Japan's Northern Wilderness

Join newly married celebrity couple naturalist Steve Backshall and double Olympic gold medallist Helen Glover on an exhilarating adventure travelling a thousand kilometres through Japan's northern highlands. Steve speaks Japanese, having trained in Japan for his black belt in judo. Helen could well face her next Olympic challenge in 2020 in Japan. Together they discover ancient pilgrimage routes, a volcanic landscape and unique wildlife in Tohoku - a region of outstanding natural beauty seemingly left behind by time. In this episode they track macaques and serows in the wild, go snow shoe trekking to Japan's largest mud volcano and experience a centuries-old samurai hot spring bath.

Join newly married celebrity couple naturalist Steve Backshall and double Olympic gold medallist Helen Glover on an exhilarating adventure through Japan's northern highlands of Tohoku. They discover ancient pilgrimage routes, a volcanic landscape and unique wildlife in Tohoku - a region of outstanding natural beauty seemingly left behind by time. The second part of their journey takes a more spiritual turn, hiking to a mountain shrine and staying at an island retreat attended by sacred monkeys and deer. In this episode Steve learns ancient samurai arts from a dojo master and Helen trains with the Tohoku University Rowing Club.